About me
Recently, my work has focused on the ways in which rock mineralogy preserves information about changes to Earth’s crust and mantle through time. The formation and recycling of Precambrian rock types like banded iron formations and massif-type anorthosites record the stories of how a tectonically active planet’s surface environments, lithosphere, and mantle evolve. These processes also help us understand how Earth may be similar to, or different from, other rocky planets at various stages of their lifetimes.
One of my longstanding interests is the information preserved in exsolution textures, especially in garnet. Exsolution textures are some of the most beautiful mineral structures on Earth (and in space!) and they hold a wealth of data about mineral chemistry as well as about the pressure, temperature, and deformation conditions at which exsolution occurred.
I have experience cataloging/curating/teaching from mineral collections at Rice University, Yale University, and Colgate University and I’ve helped develop museum displays for public outreach and education.